1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus that receives sheets conveyed from an external apparatus one after another and binds the received sheets.
2. Discussion of the Background
A sheet processing apparatus connected with an image forming apparatus such as a copier and a printer receives sheets conveyed from the image forming apparatus one after another, stacks and jogs the received sheets, and then performs a binding process such as stapling and punching to the sheets. Generally, while the sheet processing apparatus is jogging a received set of sheets to be bound and performing the binding process to the sheets, the image forming apparatus stops forming images on next set of sheets and waits for the binding process to be completed at the sheet processing apparatus.
A known sheet processing apparatus includes a waiting part in which a certain number of sheets received from an image forming apparatus are temporarily held, so that the image forming apparatus does not need to stop forming images when the sheet processing apparatus is jogging and binding a previously received set of sheets. However, when the image forming speed of the image forming apparatus is relatively high, due to insufficient capacity of the waiting part, it occurs that the image forming apparatus is required to stop forming images when the sheet processing apparatus is jogging and binding a previously received set of sheets.